


An Unexpected Friend

by Kougayon



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, Puppy Play, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, happy goro zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22053916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kougayon/pseuds/Kougayon
Summary: “So, you were abandoned then. And left unwanted.” He looks back to find the last bit of food gone from his hand and the little guy now staring up at him, panting in excitement as his curly tail wiggles side to side.|| I.E. Goro finds an abandon puppy and takes it home. Morgana isn’t happy and Akira definitely doesn’t know ||
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 14
Kudos: 230





	An Unexpected Friend

**Author's Note:**

> HEY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO Y’ALL!!!!
> 
> This is my piece for the [Happy Goro Zine on Twitter!](https://mobile.twitter.com/happygorozine) Please check it out!!

It’s been three years since the Metaverse was destroyed… 

Two years since they’ve graduated and moved back to Tokyo… 

Four months since Goro’s started this new job… 

And two days since Akira had to leave on his lousily scheduled business trip. 

  
  


………..

_ “Six whole days..? You really have to be away for that long..?” _

His fiancé had laughed and given him that signature, understanding smile.  _ “It’s only less than a week. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”  _

_ “I know that. It will just feel… a bit lonely is all. Being in a practically empty apartment and what not.”  _

Morgana had swatted at his leg.  _ “Uh, hello? I exist, you know!” _

………..

  
  


Goro sighs to himself, the soles of his shoes patting lightly against the wet sidewalk as he makes his way home from work. It rained a great deal today and he wants nothing more than to at least relax in the comfort of their apartment, away from the cold and with a coffee in hand. Even though all he’ll be coming home to is silence and a talking cat who will likely gripe about dinner as soon as Goro arrives—

Wait. No. He shouldn’t be negative. Morgana  _ is  _ a great companion. He should be grateful he’s not entirely alone! He supposes he’s just grown used to always having someone to yell  _ “honey, I’m home!”  _ to every time he walks through the door, or a  _ “welcome back” _ when it’s the other way around. 

Hell, though, it’s not that bad. Even with his fiancé being away for a while and the space of their home feeling quieter than usual, he can still find ways to entertain himself, right? Right…

Oh well…Perhaps he and Morgana can binge movies together or something—

**_*pitter patter…*_ **

“Hm?”

Goro's steps slow down. He'd swear he can hear something behind him. Something not quite like the rain. However, when he turns to look behind him, there is only an empty sidewalk—save for the damp towers of cardboard boxes scattered here and there along the wall of the building next to him. 

“...ugh.” He sighs and shakes his head. God, he desperately needs a coffee. Perhaps he’s starting to hear things. 

Or maybe it’s this new job. It’s not a bad place, not at all. They treat him quite well and the pay is more than decent. Enough to pay the tuition while he strives for his  _ real  _ desired career. More than anything, it will take some getting used to. He huffs. 

“At this point, I’m tempted to run through a Starbucks or something,” he mutters to himself. Then smiles. “Although, Akira might not ever forgive me if I cheated on his coffee—”

**_*rustle...*_ **

He turns around once more and squints at the sudden sound of boxes shuffling. Okay, he  _ definitely  _ didn’t imagine  _ that _ .

His focus narrows in on a particularly large box, specifically the suspicious manner in which it is shifting slightly. Not to mention the small breathing sounds emanating from it.  _ Unbelievable.  _ Is he really being followed by some  _ creep?! _ This definitely won’t stand. 

With all the stealth of a former assassin, he folds together his umbrella to form a weapon and carefully creeps his way over to the box, footsteps as quiet as they can be despite the puddles. One step at a time, he approaches the perp’s hiding spot. 

_ “Gotcha…” _

In one, swift movement, the brunet raises a leg and slams his heel against the box to kick it out of the way, readying himself to swing until—

**_“Yip!!”_ **

He only catches a glimpse of the small animal as it yelps and runs inside the safety of another open box. Goro’s shoulders drop. So the ‘creep’ turned out to be a street dog… Well, now he just feels bad. He’s probably frightened the poor thing… 

Goro sets his umbrella aside, rain be damned at this point, and approaches the box slowly. He admittedly doesn’t know much about animals. He never truly had the opportunity to take care of one throughout his life. Well, there’s  _ Morgana _ , but he’s an entirely different case. Goro watches as the poor thing peeks through the folds of the box at him, shivering. 

He holds out a hand. 

“Um… here, here? Come on out now, I won’t hurt you.” The small thing whimpers and backs away deeper into the darkness of the cardboard. Great. All he’s doing is scaring it. He sighs and taps a finger to his chin. 

What to do… 

“Oh!” 

_ Of course _ , he thinks, reaching for his briefcase.  _ I’ll have to coax it out somehow _ . 

He flips up the locks and rummages around various packets of papers and pens until he pulls out a small bento box. Taking out a small wad of rice and meat and forming it into a ball, he holds it out expectantly. 

The little one’s nose twitches at that, slowly poking its snout through the opening of the box and observing. Goro stills himself, careful not to frighten it. He watches with wonder as it carefully emerges from the safety of the box and approaches him, sniffs his hand, and dives right in. Now that he’s able to catch a full view of the animal, his expression turns warm. 

It’s a…  _ puppy _ . Quite a young one at that. A Shiba Inu, it looks like. Or at least he thinks, judging by the curly tail and ears. The little one’s fur is mostly black with some splotches of white across his chest, neck, and partially his back, as well as four little white paws. Albeit, the stark color is covered by cakes of mud… Goro frowns. 

“Where is your owner?” he asks, pulling out more rice balls to hand to the poor guy. “Have you been living in all of this trash by yourself…?” His gaze shifts back over to the tipped-over box the puppy had been hiding in. He didn’t notice the ink-smudged sharpie writing along the side of it until now. 

**_“FREE PuPpiEs”_ **

How terrible… 

“So, you were abandoned then. And left unwanted.” He looks back to find the last bit of food gone from his hand and the little guy now staring up at him, panting in excitement as his curly tail wiggles side to side. 

**_“Arf! Arf!”_ **

Goro’s frown returns to a smile. He reaches his hands forward and carefully wraps his fingers around the pup’s fragile body, mindful of any possible injuries, and opens the flap of his coat to tuck him inside. Safe and warm from the winter rain. He sighs. 

“Morgana is probably going to  _ kill  _ me.” 

  
  
  
  
  


🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾

  
  
  
  


Not even the crackling booms of the evening thunder can rouse Morgana from his sleep. Yet despite that, he still finds himself cracking an eye open at the sound of keys jingling from behind the door of the apartment. Goro had promised him sushi and a few movies tonight, after all. So, as comfy as this couch is, there are far more important matters at hand. Mona lights up the moment he sees a head of honey-brown hair poking through the doorway. 

“Hey,” he yawns, uncurling from his catnap into a stretch. “Welcome home. You’re back later than I expected.” 

It takes Goro a moment to respond as he struggles to enter inside with one hand holding his coat flap and the other holding the umbrella and briefcase. 

“Sorry,” he sighs, setting his things down at last. Morgana squints when he notices the absence of a to-go box. 

“Aw man… don’t tell me you  _ forgot!” _

“Uh. Well…” Goro laughs awkwardly, approaching the cat with his arm still holding his coat together. “It’s not that I forgot. It’s more like… I ran into a certain  _ obstacle _ along the way.” 

“What do you…” Morgana looks at him skeptically as he reaches his other hand into the inside of his coat and pulls out the small, whimpering pup. Morgana instantly jumps to his feet, fur on his back standing straight up. “G-Goro!? What is this??”

The brunet bashfully scratches a finger against his cheek, looking off to the side to avoid the cat’s judgmental glare. 

“Um. A puppy…?”

“I can  _ see  _ that much! What made you think that bringing some random dog home would be a good idea?!”

“I-I found him on the street,” he sputters. 

“Ah yes, like  _ that  _ makes this any better.”

“Just  _ listen _ . I found him on my way home. Poor thing had been living in a pile of trash for God-knows how long. He was covered in mud and grime and whatever else, and he was practically starving. I couldn’t just  _ leave _ him. Surely even you must understand that.” 

Morgana simply stares at him. Glare shifting back and forth between his friend and the panting rascal in his arms. He sighs. 

“Okay then,” Morgana is still a tad shaken but attempts to compose himself. “So…what? Don’t tell me you actually intend to  _ keep  _ him?”

Goro looks away again. 

“Well...I mean.” 

“Does  _ Akira  _ know about this?”

“Uhh…” 

“Goro…”

“ _ Don’t  _ look at me like that! Besides,” the brunet turns the puppy over in his arms to face him, to which the little guy happily responds by squirming to lick his face. He laughs. “I think he likes me.” 

The cat frowns. On one hand, he knows this is a terrible idea. But on the other, Goro’s genuine giggles, which are such a rarity to mortal ears, are undeniable. 

“Can I at least ask why you want to keep him? Even though he’s so young that it would be easy to find a home for him?” 

Despite the reminiscing glint in his eyes, he’s still maintaining a smile as he hugs the pup against his chest, thumb rubbing his soft ears in a soothing gesture. 

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never had the opportunity to have a ‘pet’ before. Orphanages obviously never allowed animals and neither did any of the foster homes. I just thought that, since I’m older now and in a much better, more stable place in my life, that…maybe…” he trails off. 

Morgana’s shoulders slump. Great. Now he’ll just  _ feel bad _ if he refuses this. He groans loudly which catches Goro’s attention. 

“Okay, okay— _ FINE _ . I’ll support your decision to keep him. And I’ll help you, too. What’s the worst that can happen?” The warm grin the former detective gives him just then is enough to melt any cold heart. Too late to back out now. Morgana huffs and hops on the arm of the sofa for a better look, taking the time to observe the pup carefully. “So, what’s his name anyway?”

Goro blinks. 

“Oh.” He looks down at the dog in his arms. “I actually haven’t thought of that.” 

“Well, he’s  _ your  _ dog now, more or less. What comes to your mind?” 

The brunet ponders for a solid moment, lips pursed in thought like he always does. Wow, they’re only at the name stage and it’s already this difficult. This is gonna be a long, long week, Morgana thinks. 

“Well… as I said, I’ve never had a pet of any sort before. So, this is all fairly new to me. But,” he lowers himself as he sets the pup down on the floor, scratching his ears and rolling him over to rub at his soft belly. “Perhaps something cool, I imagine. Like… ‘Laserbeam.’”

Morgana sputters. 

“L-Laserbeam??” 

“Oh, oh—or maybe Feather Hawk! Or  _ Sherlock Bones!” _

“G-Goro…” 

The brunet continues excitedly blurting out absolutely ridiculous names, and it’s at this point that Morgana realizes that Goro’s inner-child is now miraculously coming out at the opportunity of giving a dog a ‘cool name’... He should probably do something. 

“Oh, hey! What abou—” Morgana cuts him off by holding up a single paw. “Yeah, sorry, but if I’m going to be living with this guy, there’s no way I’m going to be calling him  _ Dump Truck _ , okay..?” Morgana looks closely at the pup. Analyzing his fuzzy features while trying to wrack his brain for some sort of a  _ decent _ name. 

“Hmm… he’s quite fond of you, that’s for sure. Not to mention the colors on his fur…And I bet if you added a red collar…” he hums in thought. He then looks to the waiting brunet with a victorious purr. “Okay, okay now… hear me out: how about  _ Loki?” _

“My Persona..?” Goro stares at him.

“The reason I suggest it is because of his black and white fur and unique marking patterns. Not to mention the meaning behind it. The Metaverse itself may have been a nasty place, but our Personas protected us through it all. Given us strength. I imagine Loki did the same for you, didn’t he?” 

He supposes that’s true. After all, it’s not at all inaccurate to say that Loki was Goro’s first friend. Always protecting him, living in his shadow, even as a child he somehow felt him there. As crazy as it is to believe, the majority of his memories with Loki and Robin alike were rather happy. He owes them so much. After all, if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t even have all of what he has right now: a loving fiancé, a warm apartment, lifelong friends, a talking cat to lecture him about how stupid his name ideas are… 

Goro genuinely ponders the name for a moment, looking down at the happily panting creature of black and white rolling in his lap. He smiles. 

“Yeah. I think I like that.” 

Morgana beams at him, but the expression quickly turns unsure when he remembers that there’s a bit more to this than just names. “Now then, I know you don’t have much experience with animals—especially  _ dogs _ , so how do you propose we go about taking care of young Loki?” 

“Oh, I’ll be sure to do my best with him! Research and all.” Goro smirks. “Ha. And come on, he’s just a little puppy. How hard can it be?” 

  
  
  
  
  


🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾

  
  
  
  
  


Morgana indeed keeps a watchful eye on the former detective to ensure he doesn’t shirk his work on taking care of the pup, and he’s pleased to find that he’s far from disappointed. 

The first thing Goro does is take the little guy to a local vet for an inspection, more than ecstatic to find that he’s perfectly healthy. His second step being to get him a collar and license, a striking red and gold one just as Morgana suggested. The metallic tag engraved with his phone number and  _ ‘Loki’  _ dangling from his fuzzy neck and jingling every time he shakes himself or runs. The third step then being to buy all of the necessary essentials which… Goro may have gone a little overboard with. 

Chew toys, a few bags of kibble, bowls, various boxes of treats in case he favors one more than the other, a fancy-looking dog bed, and a couple of outfits purely because he couldn’t help himself. One of them being a blue and white argyle patterned sweater which Morgana groans at when he first sees it. 

It’s admittedly a bit  _ too  _ much, but Morgana isn’t one to object to Goro having this much fun. It’s nice seeing him this excited over something. Hell, at least now Loki has plenty of things to occupy himself with.

Yeah. This’ll be  _ easy _ .

… Or so they thought—

“LOKIIIII!!”

Morgana almost knocks over a couple of lamps trying to clamber into the bedroom at the unusually loud call of the name. For a split second he thought he was in the middle of a shadow fight and was ready to bring out his sword. 

“H-Hey!! What’s wrong!?” he asks worriedly until he looks over to find the brunet on his hands and knees in a display of near despair. Loki sits right in front of his closet with a ripped apart, tan trench coat in his mouth, tail wagging as if he’s having the time of his little life. The cat sighs. 

“You forgot to close your closet door, didn’t you?” 

“I paid twenty-five thousand yen for that coat…” Goro says flatly. “He ate my socks too.” 

Morgana looks over again to find, yup, a bunch of destroyed socks. And shoes, belts, ties… Geez. 

“Man, good thing you bought all of those chew toys, huh?” he snickers. The look Goro gives him just then  _ should  _ terrify him, but he doesn’t care. This is too funny. 

But of course Morgana should’ve known better than to believe Goro would be the only one facing puppy troubles. 

.

.

.

A few days later… 

Goro had decided to fulfill his promise from the other day and opted to bring home sushi for the two of them. A simple tray of fatty tuna is laid out on the floor for the small cat to enjoy, much to his delight, while Goro eats his own from the couch. 

“Thanks again! I’ve been  _ dying  _ to have this stuff all week!” Morgana delightfully mewls, ready to dig into his fresh assortment of delicacies with abandon. 

_ “Arf!” _

That is, until he peeks over to find an uninvited guest sitting beside him, peering back and forth excitedly between the tray of goods and the feline. Morgana groans. 

“And what do  _ you  _ want?” 

The pup responds with a small whine, gently scratching a paw against the floor next to the bowl and signifying what he’s asking for. Morgana simply looks at him unimpressed and shoos him away with a single paw. 

“Nuh-Uh, go on—shoo. This is for  _ cats _ , not dogs. Run along and go chew on some more designer shoes or something…” 

_ “… Arf! Arf!” _

Right when he’s opening his jaws to take the first bite, Morgana feels himself forcibly pushed aside. It’s Loki, the heavier animal just nonchalantly squeezing himself between the cat and his dinner—which, by the way, he’s now devouring like a beast much to Morgana’s absolute horror. 

“WHA—” he sputters. “H-Hey, that’s mine! G-Goro, make him stop!”

To his surprise, Goro was actually watching the whole time in mild amusement. 

“Aw,” he says, tone dripping with sarcasm. “Don’t be so harsh, Mona. I bought that tray under the assumption you might want to share with your new friend. He’s a growing boy, after all.” 

“You  _ promised  _ I would get my fatty tuna, and besides—THIS ISN'T EVEN SHARING,” the cat yowls, still trying to shove the pup out of the way. Damn his tiny, weak cat arms. He stops when he gazes upon the now empty tray. Every single piece has been utterly demolished. 

“NOOO, MY FATTY TUNA..!!” he cries. 

As if the pup had momentarily forgotten Morgana was there, he immediately turns towards his outcries in an attempt to happily barrage him with licks. 

“Hey, who said you could do tha—stop that, get off me!” Morgana attempts to pull away, only for Loki to chase after him. “Ack!! Leave me alone!!” The chase quickly evolves into what almost feels like a full-on run for Morgana’s life, running circles around the room, over couches, over, under and around tables—yet Loki won’t give up. 

“Why is he chasing me?!” the cat yelps while dodging a corner. 

“Oh, right” says Goro, casually stuffing his face with a piece of sushi. “Silly me, I suppose I forgot to mention. Loki likes to play after he eats.” 

“W-Well make him—“

_ “ARF!!” _

“AAA MAKE HIM STOP!!”

“Oh, but he needs the exercise. Won’t you be a good housemate and help him out?”

“I-If this is because I kept making chew-toy jokes about your clothes, then I’m sorry!”

“Ohh noo,” Goro exasperates. “What would possibly give you the idea I planned this?” He flashes him his signature, obviously fake, innocent smile. 

“G-Go—Goro, please!!” Morgana pleads as Loki is hot on his tail. 

“What’s that? Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of me being petty.” 

“GORO!!”

Unfortunately for Morgana, his endurance as a normal cat is outmatched in the end compared to the larger pup. His paws eventually trip out from underneath him and he tumbles to the ground as Loki wastes not a single second in pouncing atop him, attacking him with puppy kisses. 

“Good boy.” Goro giggles.

He gives himself a well-deserved few moments of watching this hilarious (and cute) show of revenge unfold before finally putting down his tray and approaching the tangle of fluffy limbs. The brunet bends down to tuck his hands beneath the pup and lift him up to face him. Much to Morgana’s relief. 

“Aww, who’s a good Loki?  _ You are! Yes you are _ !” Meanwhile the fur on Morgana’s face is a tangled mess from the saliva, and he’s stumbling when he stands up. He almost looks traumatized. 

“Well, I’m glad  _ you’re  _ having fun at least…”

Just then, the faint sound of keys jingling from outside, followed by the apartment door slowly opening snares their attention. The surprise intruder being the last thing Goro expects to see  _ this soon _ .

“Hey, Honey, I’m ho—” Akira has to pause when he sees the absolute state of the apartment. 

Pillows and couch cushions flung about, lamps knocked over, tables shoved aside, papers scattered, Morgana looking as if he’d just crawled out of a car wash, and his fiancé staring at him wide eyed and speechless with a Shiba Inu puppy in his hands. 

“—home.” 

Morgana looks to the side and mutters. “Oh boy..” 

“A-Akira..!” Goro starts. 

“So uh…” Akira sets his bags down and looks around, debating on what to address first. “I take it you had quite a time while I was away.” 

_ “Arf!!” _

His focus eventually falls upon the dog in Goro’s arms. His expression says surprise, but other than that, Goro can’t tell what he’s thinking. He feels awkward now, but he decides to suck it up and approach his lover anyway, Loki hugged tightly against his chest. 

“I-I can…explain,” he starts. “See I…It was the day right after you left. I found him on the street on my way home and he was following me and was hungry and had no home a-and, I mean, I couldn’t just leave him there. But then I guess I got carried away and thought that maybe I could take care of him and—”

He pauses when Akira lays a hand on the little rascal’s head to rub his ears. He grins, chuckling softly. 

“Geez… I leave for one week and you get a  _ dog.  _ Did you really miss your fiancé that much?” 

Goro blinks. “Wait, you mean you aren’t… mad?”

“Pfft,  _ what?”  _ Akira laughs. “Why would I be mad? Okay, you adopted a puppy. So what? To be honest, I kind of expected this eventually—you getting a pet, I mean. Hell, I have a  _ cat _ . It’s only fair you get your own little backpack buddy.” 

“H-Hey!” Morgana pipes up. 

“So…you mean I don’t have to give him away? You’re truly okay with me keeping him?” 

Akira looks up from inspecting the name tag on the dog collar, still giggling to himself as he hears that, eyes soft.

“Honey,  _ yes _ . Of course I’m okay with it. He makes you happy.” 

Goro smiles brightly and looks as if his eyes are about to start pricking with tears. It’s heart-melting. Akira sighs and closes the gap between the three of them with a hug, a confused Loki gently sandwiched between their chests. 

“But, uh…  _ maybe  _ try not to let him wreck the apartment or torture poor Morgana as much, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Goro laughs. “Okay.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Morgana huffs. “Great. Wonderful. Woohoo. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go take a  _ bath _ .” 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> These are my Goro dog hcs and nobody can change my mind 
> 
> I hope y’all enjoyed!! ˙˚ʚ(´◡`)ɞ˚˙


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